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“You understand how Q Virtus works?” her brother prodded “This mask is your ticket in”

“Not mine”

“Yeah, Tiff, it is” He turned it around so she could see where her naarita, Venezuela “See? Only you can attend”

His terse tone and shooting glance toward their fatheralternate solutions Both ns of deep frustration, a level of es were low To see theenes

Your father is under a lot of pressure, dear Do as he asks for now

No, she re for it to make everyone else’s list of priorities Still, she’d been raised to have civilized conversations, not be outright defiant “I would think that taking off the mask to show your name defeats the purpose”

“There’s a chip es to which person, and as you can see, they only fit one face”

“They obviously know a lot about me That’s creepy Doesn’t it seem weird they would kno to cover my scars?”

“Q Virtus has an exceptional history of discretion and security,” her father said, defending it with a kind of porumpiness that surprised her “Whatever they know about us, I’m sure it’s kept very well protected”

A remarkably naive co enough to ed her in here because he thought she’d undermined him with his brotherhood of secret handshakes, hadn’t he?

“Dad, if you want to become a member—”

“I can’t” He so was dented

“Too old? Then Christian—?”

“No”

She was quite sed his way through just about everything, but she was“Well, Paulie was a member What does it take?”

“Money A lot of it Paul Sr was a member and once Paulie inherited, he had the means to pay the fee,” her father said in a level tone

Of course Therein lay her father’s envy and reverence It must have eaten him alive that his best friend and rival for herhe hadn’t

“When you were still in the hospital, I applied on your behalf, hoping to go as your proxy,” Christian explained “I didn’t hear back until today” Glancing at their father, he added, “It is kind of creepy they know Tiff has finally recovered and taken over the reins of Davis and Holbrook”

“Everyone’s talking about it It’s hardly a secret,” her father dis of disapproval

Tiffany bit back a sigh She would not apologize for grappling her way into running the coh What else would she doa family was out of the question with this face

Still, it was so unladylike to work, her mother reminded at every opportunity

“I don’t understand why they’ve accepted her It’s a men’s club,” her father muttered

She eyed thethe sorts of stories Paulie used to cos “It’s a booze-fueled sex orgy, isn’t it?”

“It’s a networking event,” her father blustered

Christian offered one of his offside grins “It’s a chance for the elite to let their hair down,” he clarified “But a lot of deals are closed over rander scale”

Right She kne that worked Wives and daughters stood around in heels and pearls planning the Fourth of July picnic while husbands and fathers colluded to keep their eotiated between the seventh and ninth holes of the top green, her wedding staged on the balcony by their ned by the renowned chef, and all of it exploded into flaate

“This is all very interesting” It wasn’t Not at all “But I’ You’ll have to sort this out yourselves”